scholarly journals Canine distemper in Nepal’s Annapurna Conservation Area - The implications of dog husbandry and human behaviour for wildlife disease

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debby Ng ◽  
Scott Carver ◽  
Mukhiya Gotame ◽  
Dibesh Karmasharya ◽  
Dikpal Karmacharya ◽  
...  

AbstractDogs are often commensal with human settlements. In areas where settlements are adjacent to wildlife habitat, the management of dogs can affect risk of spillover of disease to wildlife. We assess dog husbandry practices, and measure the prevalence of Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) in dogs, in 10 villages in Nepal’s Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA), an important region for Himalayan wildlife. A high proportion (58%) of owned dogs were allowed by their owners to roam freely, and many village dogs originated from urban areas outside the region. CDV antibodies, indicating past exposure, were detected in 70% of dogs, and 13% were positive for P-gene, suggesting current circulation of CDV. This is the first detection of canine distemper virus in a National Park in Nepal Himalaya. Dogs were generally in good condition, and none exhibited clinical signs of CDV infection, which suggests that infections were asymptomatic. CDV exposure varied with village location and age of dogs, but this variation was minor, consistent with high rates of movement of dogs across the region maintaining high seroprevalence. Residents reported the occurrence of several species of wild carnivores in or close to villages. These results suggest a high potential for transmission of CDV from village dogs to wild carnivores in ACA. We suggest that control of dog immigration, along with vaccination and neutering of dogs could mitigate the risk of CDV spillover into wild carnivore populations.

2000 ◽  
Vol 74 (14) ◽  
pp. 6358-6367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Welter ◽  
Jill Taylor ◽  
James Tartaglia ◽  
Enzo Paoletti ◽  
Charles B. Stephensen

ABSTRACT Canine distemper virus (CDV) infection of ferrets is clinically and immunologically similar to measles, making this a useful model for the human disease. The model was used to determine if parenteral or mucosal immunization of infant ferrets at 3 and 6 weeks of age with attenuated vaccinia virus (NYVAC) or canarypox virus (ALVAC) vaccine strains expressing the CDV hemagglutinin (H) and fusion (F) protein genes (NYVAC-HF and ALVAC-HF) would induce serum neutralizing antibody and protect against challenge infection at 12 weeks of age. Ferrets without maternal antibody that were vaccinated parenterally with NYVAC-HF (n = 5) or ALVAC-HF (n = 4) developed significant neutralizing titers (log10 inverse mean titer ± standard deviation of 2.30 ± 0.12 and 2.20 ± 0.34, respectively) by the day of challenge, and all survived with no clinical or virologic evidence of infection. Ferrets without maternal antibody that were vaccinated intranasally (i.n.) developed lower neutralizing titers, with NYVAC-HF producing higher titers at challenge (1.11 ± 0.57 versus 0.40 ± 0.37, P = 0.02) and a better survival rate (6/7 versus 0/5, P = 0.008) than ALVAC-HF. Ferrets with maternal antibody that were vaccinated parenterally with NYVAC-HF (n = 7) and ALVAC-HF (n = 7) developed significantly higher antibody titers (1.64 ± 0.54 and 1.28 ± 0.40, respectively) than did ferrets immunized with an attenuated CDV vaccine (0.46 ± 0.59;n = 7) or the recombinant vectors expressing rabies glycoprotein (RG) (0.19 ± 0.32; n = 8,P = 7 × 10−6). The NYVAC vaccine also protected against weight loss, and both the NYVAC and attenuated CDV vaccines protected against the development of some clinical signs of infection, although survival in each of the three vaccine groups was low (one of seven) and not significantly different from the RG controls (none of eight). Combined i.n.-parenteral immunization of ferrets with maternal antibody using NYVAC-HF (n = 9) produced higher titers (1.63 ± 0.25) than did i.n. immunization with NYVAC-HF (0.88 ± 0.36; n = 9) and ALVAC-HF (0.61 ± 0.43; n = 9, P = 3 × 10−7), and survival was also significantly better in the i.n.-parenteral group (3 of 9) than in the other HF-vaccinated animals (none of 18) or in controls immunized with RG (none of 5) (P = 0.0374). Multiple routes were not tested with the ALVAC vaccine. The results suggest that infant ferrets are less responsive to i.n. vaccination than are older ferrets and raises questions about the appropriateness of this route of immunization in infant ferrets or infants of other species.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. e0220874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debby Ng ◽  
Scott Carver ◽  
Mukhiya Gotame ◽  
Dibesh Karmasharya ◽  
Dikpal Karmacharya ◽  
...  

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2426
Author(s):  
Cristina E. Di Francesco ◽  
Camilla Smoglica ◽  
Simone Angelucci

Canine distemper is a contagious infectious disease, caused by canine distemper virus (CDV) belonging to Morbillivirus genus, Paramyxoviridae family, representing a serious threat for domestic and wild carnivores [...]


2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison M. Watson ◽  
Andrew C. Cushing ◽  
Julie D. Sheldon ◽  
Eman Anis ◽  
Rebecca P. Wilkes ◽  
...  

An outbreak of canine distemper virus in a private zoo in eastern Tennessee in July 2016 led to fatal clinical disease in 5 adult, wild-caught Linnaeus’s 2-toed sloths ( Choloepus didactylus). Clinical signs included hyporexia, lethargy, mucopurulent nasal discharge, and oral and facial ulcers. At necropsy, affected animals had crusts and ulcers on the lips, nose, tongue, and oral cavity. Microscopically, all sloths had widespread, random, hepatic necrosis; lymphoid depletion; and bronchointerstitial pneumonia. The central nervous system did not contain gross or histopathologic lesions in any of the 5 sloths, although immunoreactivity for viral antigen was present within vessel walls. Epithelial cells and histiocytes within numerous organs contained intranuclear and intracytoplasmic inclusions and occasional syncytial cells. Canine distemper virus was confirmed with immunohistochemistry and virus isolation. Viral sequencing identified the novel American-4 strain prevalent in eastern Tennessee wildlife. This is the first pathologic characterization of canine distemper virus infection in sloths (family Choloepodidae, order Pilosa) and emphasizes the significant morbidity and mortality in this species.


2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 687-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjay Kapil ◽  
Tina Neel

Currently, there are no reliable predictors of the clinical outcomes of domesticated dogs that have been recently vaccinated against canine distemper virus (CDV) and develop respiratory disease. In this study, vaccinated dogs from Oklahoma City that were showing clinical signs of respiratory disease were evaluated for CDV antigen using a direct fluorescent antibody test (FAT). Clinical outcomes after standard symptomatic therapy for respiratory disease were recorded, and a statistical analysis of the results was performed. We present our study showing that CDV FAT results were predictive of clinical recovery (prognostic indicator, prospects of clinical recovery) among vaccinated dogs showing clinical signs of respiratory disease. Negative CDV FAT results equated to 80% chances of recovery after symptomatic therapy, compared to 55% chances of recovery when the CDV FAT results were positive. Based on the results of this study, we show that veterinarians can make better informed decisions about the clinical outcomes of suspected CDV cases, with 2-h turnaround times, by using the CDV FAT. Thus, antemortem examination with the CDV FAT on external epithelia of recently vaccinated, sick dogs is a clinically useful diagnostic test and valuable prognostic indicator for veterinarians. Application of the CDV FAT to these samples avoids unnecessary euthanasia of dogs with suspected CDV.


2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (6Supl2) ◽  
pp. 4251
Author(s):  
Maria Talita Soares Frade ◽  
Lisanka Ângelo Maia ◽  
Rachel Livingstone Felizola Soares Andrade ◽  
Rodrigo Cruz Alves ◽  
Elise Miyuki Yamasaki ◽  
...  

The objective of this study was to describe the clinical, pathological, and immunohistochemistry characteristics of five cases of toxoplasmosis, an infection often associated with distemper in dogs. From January 2000 to December 2012, a retrospective study was performed analyzed dogs with distemper in the semiarid region of Paraíba. We evaluated this sample to focus on individuals who presented with concomitant structures in protozoa characteristics, and performed immunohistochemistry (IHC) tests using polyclonal anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibody. In all cases, the clinical signs were similar including digestive changes, as well as respiratory, neurological, and ocular lesions, suggesting an infection of canine distemper virus. The diagnosis of distemper was confirmed on histopathological analysis depending on the presence of intranuclear and intracytoplasmic eosinophilic inclusion bodies in different tissues. Histopathological examination also revealed the characteristic presence of parasitic cysts T. gondii in the brain in four cases, and in the lung in one case. The brain cysts were associated with multifocal areas of malacia and lung there was alveolar septa thickening due to infiltration of macrophages, lymphocytes, and plasma cells, with moderate proliferation of type II pneumocytes and coalescing multifocal areas of necrosis. These cysts are characterized by round and strongly basophilic structures, measuring approximately 5 to 70 ?m, delimited by thin wall, stained by hematoxylin and eosin, and immunomarked as brown by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using the chromogen DAB. The diagnosis of toxoplasmosis associated with infection by canine distemper virus in the five case studied was based on microscopic findings and confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Toxoplasmosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of dogs with severe progressive systemic signs, especially when respiratory and neurological involvement is suspected.


2011 ◽  
Vol 152 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 247-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Acosta-Jamett ◽  
W.S.K. Chalmers ◽  
A.A. Cunningham ◽  
S. Cleaveland ◽  
I.G. Handel ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Julieta Zacarias ◽  
Alberto Dimande ◽  
Sara Achá ◽  
Paula T. Dias ◽  
Elisa M. Leonel ◽  
...  

Although significant animal suffering caused by preventable diseases is frequently seen in developing countries, reports of this are scarce. This report describes avoidable animal suffering owing to a suspected canine distemper (CD) outbreak in unvaccinated dogs owned by low-income families in Mozambique that killed approximately 200 animals. Affected dogs exhibited clinical signs, and gross and microscopic lesions compatible with CD. Immunohistochemical staining confirmed the presence of canine distemper virus (CDV) in the kidney of one dog from the cohort. This brief communication again illustrates that large outbreaks of CDV in unvaccinated dogs occur and that large-scale avoidable suffering and threats to the health of dogs and wild canines continue. Mass vaccination supported by government and non-government organisations is recommended.Keywords: Canine distemper; dogs; outbreak; animal welfare; Mozambique


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document